A group of unfortunate people find themselves living as neighbors in a condo complex. Each one has lived a lonely life with hardships and secrets. Their relationships to each other blossoms as they become like family in a loving and caring way. This was a feel good book that I thoroughly enjoyed. Having a few ghosts in the story also made it better.

A lonely, isolated young woman looking for remnants of her mother’s life, a place to belong, moves to a quiet island off the coast of South Carolina . On Mallow Island she connects with several other residents of the condo she has inherited. All of them are looking for something more in their lives. If you are not willing to accept a little bit of the imaginary, you might want to skip this book, but you’d be missing out on a sweet story of friendship and hope, a feel good story. It’s not that this is a totally light read, but it does provide some respite from the full reality of some of distressing things happening around us.

Other Birds is a delightful read. The book is a great story with a touch of magical realism. Zoey, before college, moves to Mallow Island to learn more about her mom. While living there among strange birds and quirky neighbors, she finds friends that become like her family. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

I am so thrilled to have another book from Allen after seven years! <I>Other Birds</I> is filled with Allen's usual warmth, quirky characters, and a touch of magical realism. The story takes place off the coast of South Carolina in a place called Mallow Island, where the residents of a small condo community create a lovely found family as they help each other heal from the wounds of their various past hurts. I loved everything about this book, and my only complaint was that it was over too soon. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a digital review copy.

My first book by Allen! I’m a huge fan of magical realism so this sounded right up my alley when I read the synopsis. It’s also been a very long time that I read a ghost story that wasn’t horror, which was quite nice. I enjoyed the writing and found it very easy to get into this story. The scenery was fantastic! Mallow Island sounds like a wonderful place. Other Birds is heavy on found family, misunderstandings, the importance of community, and overcoming your past: all tropes that I love. My only gripe is I feel there were too many characters to follow and had we focused on less then the character development would’ve been a bit stronger. They had fairly generic character arcs. There were some nice twists though and I loved the way the story eventually weaves together. The ghost chapters were my favorite. Beautiful ending! Definitely recommend to fans of literary fiction with magical realism.

3.5 ⭐️

I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The premise of this book was intriguing and hooked me, however the story left me wanting more.

There were so many characters stories to follow that I feel like it drowned out Zoey’s. In the end I loved the way everything came together. Sometimes family is what you make it, and that’s exactly what these characters did.

I did find it hard to connect with the characters and it took me a little longer to read than normal. I liked the twists and thought they were clever.

I would still recommend this book to others because I felt like it was a heart-warming tale of finding one’s way through life.

I read Garden Spells by this author back in the day, so I was expecting Magical Realism. Instead, I found a heartwarming ghost story about finding belonging and letting go of trauma. It was a slow build, very character driven, but paid off in the end as I was emotionally invested. I particularly loved the chef character and his back story. The writing was much more purposeful than her earlier work, with the message and loose ends wrapping neatly together. Overall, a beautiful, sweet story that lingered in my mind.

Thank you to Netgalley and St Martin’s Press for the ARC!

“Stories aren’t fiction. Stories are fabric. They’re the white sheets we drape over our ghosts so we can see them.”

“There are birds, and then there are other birds. Maybe they don’t sing. Maybe they don’t fly. Maybe they don’t fit in. I don’t know about you, ut I’d much rather be an other bird than just the same old thing.”

“If the people around you don’t love you just as you are, find new people. They’re out there.”

Sarah Addision Allen is an auto-buy author for me and Other Birds did not disappoint. I was hooked from the start. The Dellawisp on Mallow Island is a magical apartment complex with small, turquoise birds flitting about, and tenants that are likable, relatable, all struggling with something and unknowingly searching for their people.
I really loved the character development of this book. It was enchanting and complex and I will miss the characters. Allen portrayed their struggles with such beauty and grace that made me cry happy tears more than once. If you love the idea of ghosts, magic, strong character development, and a book that will stick with you for sometime after reading, you have found your people and your book!

Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress

5 stars

Other Birds managed to be a sweet story without being saccharine.
Zoey is 18 and right out of high school when she comes to claim her mother’s condo at the Dellawisp, on Mallow Island off of Charleston, SC. Zoey’s a bit of an oddball, with an invisible parrot as her only friend. She sets out to meet her neighbors, including a chef, a henna artist, the condo manager and two reclusive old sisters. Oh, and the place is also haunted by ghosts that are bound to the various individuals. On the other side of the country, a young man finds himself without a job or means and decides to return home.
Magic realism can be hit or miss for me. It works here. “Not everything has to be real to be true.”
I was impressed by the twists that turn up in the story. What initially felt like it might be too lightweight, added depth as it went on. The theme, that of a family made, not borne, might be common, but it always rings true to me.
My thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance copy of this book.

I'm not really a fan of magical realism but Sarah Addison Allen does it so well that I am always enchanted.

Zoey is starting college in Charleston having left a disinterested father and a less than caring stepmom. She is staying the summer in her mother's condo at The Dellawisp on Mallow Island hoping to learn more about her mom who died when Zoey was young. She also brings along with her an invisible Pigeon. She meets her neighbors, Charlotte, a henna artist; Mac, a James Beard winning chef; and Frasier, the caretaker when Lizbeth Lime dies and Zoey is hired to clean out this paper hoarder's apartment. The other resident is Lucy Lime, Lizbeth's sister, but Lizbeth hates Lucy and they never speak. Lucy is a recluse and rarely seen.

The Dellawisp sounds like a delightful place. The small turquoise birds flitting around play a large part in the ambiance of the condos. Zoey's place, while devoid of anything personal of her mother's still sounds like a perfect place to live with the pink refrigerator and patio.

All of the characters are well-developed and likeable. They all had rough childhoods and secrets they kept. I was rooting for them to find a path in life that would finally lead them to the happiness they deserved. They had a little bit of help from the ghosts that also lived there.

Oh and one more thing - READ THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. I won't say why but they are short and worth it.

I would like to thank Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me a copy of this thoroughly charming story.

Allen takes her time introducing us to each character within the story. You can almost view the beginning chapters as individual novellas - and to say that the Camille chapters left me smiling would be an understatement. I would classify Other Birds as a slow burn. I never felt that urgency to pick up the book and continue reading - but sitting with my hot coffee, in the early hours of the morning just as the sun was rising, it was the perfect read.

The Dellawisp is a magical condo complex located on Mallow Island and inhabited by a unique cast of characters. Zoey has inherited her mother's condo and chooses to spend the months leading up to her first year of college living on her own and reaching for a connection with the mother she lost at such a young age. In her eagerness to get to know her neighbors we learn the traumatic past of each individual in this small community and get to watch them grow and come together.

If you love found family, character driven stories, magic and whimsy then I definitely recommend picking up Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen.

Strength of characters wins again for Sarah Addison Allen. Her newest novel, Other Birds, is filled with quirky folks in a quirky place that she layers with ghosts and magic realism. I didn’t think I would care for this novel after the introduction of Zoey, a young naïve teenager who is new to the area with a desire to learn more about her mother. She seems overly detailed with sadness and nowhere to go. But once her fellow flawed souls that live in her condo area are added to the story, she reveals hope and sunshine that kept me wanting to go toward each additional chapter. The novel has reoccurring themes of absentee or less than adequate parents, being lost in life and hiding behind one’s true persona. I enjoyed the setting of a coastal south Carolina area with the placement of birds, ghosts and pets creating movement in its description. Each human character played their situation out in a different way. My favorite was Mac, a chef/neighbor who is stable and gives others a strong friendship which builds their confidence. As usual with Allen’s books, I was surprised by the ending. Other Birds was a sweet summer read. Thank you to NetGalley for providing an early read of this eARC in return for an honest review.

This was my first time reading a novel by Sarah Addison Allen, and I loved it! I have no idea why I haven't read her books before, but I plan on changing that ASAP.

Other Birds is delightfully enchanting, the writing is lyrical and graceful, and the characters are captivating in their flaws, brokenness, love, and grief. Allen takes these pieces of humanity, the grief and brokenness, and weaves them throughout the book, tying them as strands throughout the novel, binding Zoey, Charlotte, Mac, Oliver, and Frasier (and Lucy) together into a found family, something they each desperately need. Of course, there are secrets involved and a mystery as well, like any good book set in the South and Other Birds is set on Mallow Island, a fictional island in South Carolina near Charleston (my favorite city) in my beloved Low Country.

Zoey, almost 19, arrives on Mallow Island with an empty bird cage and everything she owns to live in the condo her mother left to her when she died. She's never lived alone when she arrives at the Dellawisp Condos, but she's ready for a new start after growing up with an unloving father and stepmother. She soon becomes involved in the lives and stories of her unusual neighbors: Charlotte, a henna artist, Mac, a James Beard award-winning chef, Lucy, a recluse, Lizbeth, Lucy's sister and a hoarder, Frasier, the property manager with a secret, and Oliver, Lizbeth's son. Oh, then there are the ghosts on the property. And one must not forget the Dellawisps! These are the tiny turquoise birds that roam the property for which it's named.

This story unfolds slowly, magically as Allen tells the story of each character. I enjoyed how she used magical realism in the novel although I know that isn't the case for some readers. For me, this book felt like sinking into my favorite chair with a cozy blanket and a mug of tea, book in hand in front of a fire--so perfection! It will linger with me long after in a way a lot of books do not because I was really able to care about these characters, empathize with their grief and losses, and hope they could let go and embrace the future. Highly recommend it!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

-review posted to Goodreads and Twitter on 8/10/22
-review will be posted to Amazon on publication

This story is filled with quirky, mostly loveable characters who find each other and create a safe and loving family which they all really needed. Also present, as in all of this author's books, is a touch of magic, a presence of ghosts and the links between the worlds. I came away from reading this with such a hopeful and peaceful feeling.

this is actually my first book by this author, though i own several (oops). i really enjoyed it - it was so dreamy and i loved the magical realism element. i loved the characters and the themes about grief and love.

I love when I book makes you cry happy tears and that is what Other Birds did for me. A sweet tale of finding your own family, finding happiness, and realizing others support you in ways you don’t see.

I love Sarah Addison Allen's books. I just know that when I start one I'm going to enjoy it. Her writing has this dreamy quality of being able to pull you in and keep you engaged throughout the whole story, and her use of magical realism is perfect. It's so engrained in her books and it feels like it could actually be true.

This is the perfect book on dealing with grief. Everyone deals with it in their own way. There's no right or wrong way, no time frame, and no way of knowing how it's going to go. Even though we all deal with grief, it's different for everyone. But not only that, it's different each time we experience it. Each of the characters in this book are dealing with grief for a different person or situation in a different way. I loved how time was spent with each person, and how all their stories slowly unraveled to reveal more of what each was going through. I also loved the aspect of them all being so far apart from each even though they all lived in the same complex, and slowly coming together as a new found family. Sometimes we need to find our own family, even if we have one, as sharing our grief with others can help us all overcome whatever it is we're facing. I have a lot of first hand experience with this. It took me a long time to get to the point where I could share it with others, but as a result, I have found a new family of people I know will always be there for me.

I have not been this excited about an upcoming release in ages! After nearly 7 years Sarah Addison Allen returns with the wonderful and magical novel, Other Birds. Allen‘s work has been some of my favorites throughout the past decade with the flawless use of magical realism she brings to her stories that will warm your heart.

"Between the real and the imaginary, there are stories that take flight in the most extraordinary ways.

Right off the coast of South Carolina, on Mallow Island, The Dellawisp sits—a stunning old cobblestone building shaped like a horseshoe, and named after the tiny turquoise birds who, alongside its human tenants, inhabit an air of magical secrecy.

When Zoey comes to claim her deceased mother’s apartment on an island outside of Charleston she meets her quirky and secretive neighbors, including a girl on the run, two estranged middle-aged sisters, a lonely chef, a legendary writer, and three ghosts. Each with their own story. Each with their own longings. Each whose ending isn’t yet written."

I absolutely adored this story for so many reasons and just like Allen‘s previous work it left me feeling truly satisfied and with a full heart. This new release has made me want to go back and reread her back catalog as The Girl Who Chased the Moon was the first to get me hooked on her work.

I have to note how much I really appreciate how Allen has never really changed the overall feeling and voice of her books, despite having experienced surviving cancer along with unthinkable loss within the past decade. Her own life is just as complicated as the multidimensional characters that she brings to life on the page, and her ability to overcome and produce such a beautiful piece of fiction is simply awe inspiring.

Do NOT miss out on this one by pre-ordering today from your favorite indie bookstore!

Allen's works are truly an escape from reality unlike any other, and I am absolutely thrilled to have had the opportunity to read and review this title thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press.

Every once in awhile, a book comes along that stays with you long after you've read the last page. This is one of those books. The residents of The Dellawisp, a charming little apartment complex on Mallow Island, South Carolina, each have multi-layered stories and pasts that haunt them. As their stories intertwine and unfold with the help and hindrance of ghosts from the past, they learn to trust and love again.

It has been a long time since we have had a new book from Addison Allen, but I think it was worth the wait! Looking back on my reviews of her other works, they have been 3’s or 4’s, but I think she really ramped it up with this one, more twists and turns and story lines, but not confusing, and the magical realism is there and then some! The characters are likable, and you hope for everyone’s happiness, no matter how hard their start or journey, because they deserve it. You will care for them. them! Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review, which this truly is. Was so excited to get it!